10 Actors Who Refused To Kiss On Screen

10. Will Smith Was Worried About What His Friends Might Think - Six Degrees Of Seperation

Long before he was the global box office powerhouse we know him as today, Will Smith was taking one of his first steps into the world of movie-making in 1993's Six Degrees of Separation.

As Paul, Smith played a hustler who also just so happened to be gay. Yet, despite the moment being in the script, the actor refused to share a kiss with co-star Anthony Michael Hall on screen. This meant that the director of the film, Fred Schepisi, was forced to think on his feet, using a stand-in and shooting only the backs of the characters' heads. Speaking around the time of the film's release, Smith admitted to Entertainment Weekly that it "was very immature on (his) part."

Going further, Smith added:

"I was thinking, ‘How are my friends in Philly going to think about this?’ I wasn’t emotionally stable enough to artistically commit to that aspect of the film."

Smith would also later remark that ducking this kiss was a "valuable lesson" for him as it taught the actor that going forward, "Either you do it or you don't."

His co-star Sir Ian McKellen commented on Smith's decision years later in a Time Out interview, saying:

"He was a charmer, and a good actor. But he did one silly thing: he refused to kiss another boy on-screen, even though it was there in the script. Which was why, at an early preview, I met him in public outside the cinema and gave him a great big kiss on the lips."

Never change, Sir Ian.